Only the Blind One Saw
by Titan09
Summary: TWINFIC! The Twins meet a blind girl one snowy night 22 years before Reloaded. Once reunited, will her mysterious past pose a threat to the Merovingian, the Twins, and everything they've ever known? What will it mean for their future? R&R!
1. Our First Friend

SUMMARY: TWINFIC! About 22 years ago, the Twins encountered a blind girl. She was their first and only friend. Now, this blind girl and her long-lost companions endure an exciting journey to discover the girl's past and their entwined futures.

Yay! I FINALLY have a Twinfic! wOOt! I don't know how I really came up with this idea, but I think One pasted all my little Twinfic ideas together and prodded me with a stick until I wrote it. Thanks, One! ;)

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Matrix or it's characters--they belong to the Wachowski bros. and Warner Bros.  
(The Twins are about 7or 8, in case you're wondering.)

I hope you enjoy my fic!  
--Titan ;)

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"Mero? MEEERRROOOO!"

"PERSEPHONEEEE!" One and Two cried out between sobs. The two young twins were scared and alone. They had endured, that day, some of the worst jeering from children and parents alike about their appearance. And, to make matters worse, they had been separated from the Merovingian and his wife, Persephone, through the crowded streets. Now it was getting late and it started to snow on the now deserted sidewalk.

Two slumped down against the brick wall, closely followed by One. Both were shivering and holding themselves, both to warm and comfort.

"What're we gonna do, One?" Two asked his brother, wiping tears from behind his shaded eyes.

One sniffed, "I dunno, Two. I guess we could—" He was cut off by a soft clicking noise coming down the street.

"Hello?" a voice said softly, "'S someone there?" Immediately, both twins held their breath as they watched a small figure step under a street light. She was about their size—around the same age, too—with smooth blonde mid-back length hair that shimmered slightly in the light above. Her eyes were concealed with dark sunglasses not unlike those the Twins were currently wearing. The clicking noise came from a thin, white 'stick' in her hand with a red stripe near the bottom. The girl gently tapped the stick back and forth on the ground for a reason that eluded both twins.

"Is someone there?" She said a little louder. Two _hic_-ed and One immediately put a hand to his brother's mouth. She turned her head to their direction but proceeded walking. After just a few more steps, her 'stick' poked One in the shoe. Before the Twins could think about phasing or the girl to think to stop walking, she tripped over the Twin's outstretched legs. Two apparently couldn't take it anymore; he burst out wailing and crying. One soon joined in while the young girl was hastily apologizing and fumbling to get off of the Twins' legs. In her haste, her dark glasses tipped off of her face.

When the Twins quieted and had no more tears to cry, the girl retracted her 'stick', pocketed it, and flopped down next to One. "D'you know where my glasses are? I dropped them."

Two looked down at his lap, where her sunglasses had dropped. "Don't you see them?" He asked, picking them up and trying to give them to her.

She didn't take them from his hands, "No, actually, I don't." She shook her head, some snow shaking loose from her hair. "Oh, I'm Lily." She extended a hand to shake, far away from Two's own extended one with her sunglasses.

Two furrowed his brow, perplexed by what she said, while One, who recognized the gesture (he had seen the Mero do it before when he had guests), took her hand in his. He noticed her icy blue eyes were glassy and unfocused. "I'm One. And this is Two, my brother." He gestured toward Two. Two waved, only to remember that she might not see that, either.

When One released Lily's hand, Two gently took her wrist and placed her glasses in her hand. She giggled, "Thanks….erm…Two?"

Two smiled and wiped away the last remaining tears, "Right. Just curious: why can't you see?"

Lily nervously pushed her hair back with her sunglasses like a headband. "I'm blind." One noticed something in her ear.

"What's that mean?" Two asked, perplexed by this 'blindness'.

One answered for Lily, "It means she can't see. You know how when you close your eyes, all you see is black?"

"Yup."

"Well, for a blind person, it's like their eyes are always shut. All they ever see is black."

Two's eyes widened behind his sunglasses. He couldn't imagine life without sight. Experimentally, he waved a hand in front of Lily's eyes. She quickly grabbed his wrist, "And because I'm blind, my other senses have to fill in, mostly hearing and feel. That's why I knew your hand was there….Two?"

"Right again." Two smiled; no one but the Merovingian and Persephone had ever told them apart that quickly.

Lily giggled, "Anyways, you know how you can make a breeze by fanning yourself with your hand?"

One and Two answered at the same time, "Uh-huh."

"Because my sense of touch is more sensitive, waving a hand in front of my face like that creates enough wind for me to feel."

"Cool!" One smiled at Two's astonishment. He changed the subject back to Lily's disability, "One, 'cuz Lily's blind, that means she wouldn't care what we look like!" Two's smile grew.

"Why would I care what you two look like?" Lily was now perplexed.

One became grim, "People laugh at us because we look different"

Lily frowned, "I know how you feel. People stare at me, too. Well, I don't really _see_ them stare, of course, but it's like I can_ feel_ their stares. I can't explain it well."

She heard both twins sob. One, though, was trying his best to not let Lily hear it. "Please don't cry." She gently stroked the Twins' dreadlocks comfortingly. She brightened a little and giggled again, "I like your hair." She felt their jaw muscles tighten in a slight smile. Lily brushed some flakes of snow from their dreadlocks before settling back against the brick wall.

"Lily?"

"Yes, One?"

One couldn't help but smile again; she was good at telling them apart, "What's that thing in your ear?"

"What, this?" She pointed to a small plastic device stuck in and wrapped around her ear, "It's called a 'hearing aid'. I'm what people call 'hearing impaired', and these help me hear better. Before I had them, though, I had to learn this special language to communicate, because I couldn't properly learn a vocal language."

Both twins seemed interested; "Can we learn some of this special language?" Two voiced both his and his brother's wishes.

"Sure. What do you want to learn?"

One thought out loud, "Well, we already know our names…—"

"Can you show me, please? I want to know what you've learned."

One blinked, confused, "How would you do that?"

"Well…have you heard about a woman named Helen Keller?" Lily asked.

"No." The Twins answered at the same time.

"Well, when she was young, she got a disease that left her blind and deaf. They didn't have hearing aids back in her time, though I doubt it would've helped—when someone is or is almost completely deaf, hearing aids aren't much assistance. She had to learn a way to communicate, so her parents got someone to teach her 'American Sign Language'. She learned it by observing by touch the signs she was taught. So, to learn 'S', for example, her teacher traced an S onto her hand, then shaped Helen's hand into the sign for S." Lily held up a fist, the sign for the letter S.

"So, hold up your hands, and I'll see….well, not really…whether you're right or wrong."

One held up one finger and Two held up two. After finding out what each twin thought their name was in sign language, Lily giggled. "I thought your names were One and Two, not D and V." She smiled at her joke. One at a time, Lily patiently showed the Twins how to spell out their names. After practicing a few times, Lily explained, "To make things easier, abbreviations are used for names. Just take the first initial of your name and put it to your head, chin, or chest. Like mine is—" Lily put an L above her heart. "I think yours will be…" she put an O over her heart, "One, and…" she shifted the O to a T, "Two. I always like using abbreviations like that because it always reminds me that it's not what's outside that matters, but what's in—" she placed a hand on each of the Twins' chests, "—here."

&&&

After what seemed like maybe half an hour of talking about various things, Lily suddenly said, "Y'know, I think you guys are my first real friends."

"Same with us," Two responded, "I mean, I know I have One, but he's family; it's different." One nodded in agreement. It started snowing a little harder, now. Lily got up to brush herself off a little and open her mouth for a few snowflakes; the Twins followed suit. They were soon running around, playing a little tag and sometimes having to switch quickly to Marco Polo so Lily wouldn't stray off too far.

"MARCOO!" Lily shouted, prepared to run in the direction of the response.

The Twins shouted from either side of her, "POLO!" Lily ran towards one twin, latching onto him in a bear hug, laughing and giggling.

"UN! DEUX! Zeut alleur, where have you two BEEN?" (AN: I'm SO sorry; I hardly know how to speak French, let alone _write_ it… ( ) Lily heard an outraged Frenchman shout. The twin she still had her arms wrapped around tensed; this man probably had a temper no one dared trifle with.

Lily released the twin (she was pretty sure it was Two) she was holding, reached into her pocket, extended her cane, and turned the other way, knowing it was time to leave.

She almost tripped again when both twins ran up and hugged her tightly. She could hear Two sobbing again and feel One racking with his own hidden cries. "Will we see you again?" One mumbled into Lily's shoulder as she returned the hug. No matter how hard he tried, One couldn't hide the tremor in his voice.

"I really, _really_ hope so, Two." It took all of Lily's self control not to cry, but tears reluctantly leaked out of her unfocused eyes.

"I'm One." He let out a sob.

"I know." Lily started stroking their hair again. "Bad joke."

For what was only a minute or so, but what Lily wished could be eternity, she tightly embraced her two best friends.

The Frenchman was obviously getting impatient, "Come ON! Vite, vite!" Lily and the Twins reluctantly released and parted, each hoping as they headed their own ways that they would someday see each other again.

&&&&&&&

Okay. I hope you liked it! Review, PLEASE!


	2. The Rogue Program

Hihi!  
Yay! I have an update ready! Two in one day:)

Many thanks to Silvestris forthe (one and only... :( ) review.  
If you are reading this, PLEASE leave a review, I will be very happy and in return give you all virtual cookies:)

Anywayz, the story is now taking place during the movies. Reloaded, to be exact. This story, however, won't (and kind of can't...) link up with the rest of the movie. The only connection is the car chase; we never find out what happens to the Twins after that, so I thought it'd be a good place to start. (Also: The Twins are now about thirty years old. As you can see below: twenty two years have passed since the last chap.)

Hope you like and please leave a review!  
--Titan

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_22 years later…  
In the Merovingian's restaurant after the Reloaded car chase _

"You _LOST_ him?" The Mero was turning as red as his beloved French wine when the badly beat up Twins entered with the bad news.

"It wasn't our fault." One cowered.

Two finished, "Between the rebels and the Agents, we were outnumbered at least three to one, seeing as how the Agents are virtually unstoppable—" The Merovingian cut him off with a slightly drunken but threatening glare (AN: Sorry, people. I'm not a fan of the Merovingian. He's really annoying and he ticks me off.).

"I gave you CLEAR orders to bring back the Keymaker! Why wasn't that simple enough for you blundering dolts!" (AN: I REALLY don't like the Mero….evident, ain't it?) The Twins sank even deeper into the expensive but fancy restaurant chairs they were sitting on.

"I will give you _one last chance._ Fail this time, and it's back to the Source. This one should be easy enough for you dunderheads. All you have to do is bring a rogue program to me. You need to be quick—the rebels are after them, too. You need to get this program, for both of our sakes. In the wrong hands, he or she can pose a real threat. Their code can manipulate the whole of the Matrix."

&&&&&&&&&

One and Two quickly phased in the Mero's thirty-car parking lot, healing the rest of their injuries from the highway chase for the Keymaker (AN: My friend always says the Keymaker should introduce himself like: "Hello. I'm the Keymaker and I make keys." :) Sorry for interrupting the story…). Seeing how their Escalade was annihilated, the Twins took their newly programmed 2004/05 Ford Mustang.

"You can drive," Two told One, "I've had enough driving to last me a decade or two."

As the Twins got in on either side of the sleek black sports car, One said, "At least we don't have to go on that blasted freeway again." He handed Two a map printed out from the chateau's computer, "Our destination is downtown, just a few miles away."

The Twins rode in silence, Two occasionally glancing down both sides of the street for a hotel, St. Moritz, across the street from Central Park.

One parked as close as he could, considering the New York traffic and the fact that it was karaoke night in the lobby. An air-conditioned breeze welcomed them and cooled the backs of their necks as they opened the front doors. Following a sign that said, **This way to bar and karaoke**, they entered into another room that contained a stage, a crowded bar, many tables and booths, and a female version of William Hung doing a rendition of 'My Heart Will Go On'.

One and Two rubbed their ears irritably when she finished and the host took the microphone from her and said gingerly, "Well, that was…erm…_unique_….Well, who'll be up next?" He instantly brightened when a woman in her late twenties raised her hand slightly. "Ah, yes! My good friend, Miss Annoli! I bet our regulars recognize her." An eager applause responded his statement as he placed the microphone back on the stand and escorted 'Miss Annoli' up to the stage. Two's interest was caught when the woman was handed a guitar. Looking closely at her, Two noticed something about her that made him think he was having de ja vu. He just couldn't put his finger on what made her seem so familiar. He poked One to get his attention, but found him just as mesmerized.

One seemed to have difficulty tearing his shaded eyes from the young woman. "We should find the program," he said quietly, taking out a blurry photograph one of the Merovingian's blundering henchmen took. The Twins were probably the Merovingian's 'employees' that had an IQ higher than an infant chimpanzee.

One and Two looked back to the singer as they heard a chord ring out and then resonate. She continued through the chord progression and leaned toward the mike,

"Fukai fukai mori no oku ni ima mo kitto  
okizari ni shita kokoro kakushiteru yo  
sagasu hodo no chikara mo naku tsukarehateta  
hitobito wa eien no yami ni kieru  
chisai mama nara kitto ima demo mieta ka na

Bokutachi wa ikiru hodo ni  
nakushiteku sukoshi zutsu  
itsuwari ya uso o matoni  
tachisukumu koe mo naku

Aoi aoi sora no iro mo kizukanai mama  
sugiteyuku mainichi ga kawatteyuku  
tsukurareta wakugumi o koe ima o ikite  
sabitsuita kokoro mata ugokidasu yo

Toki no rizumu o shireba mo ichido toberu darou

Bokutachi wa samayoi nagara  
ikite yuku doko made mo  
shinjiteru hikari motome  
arukidasu kimi to ima

Bokutachi wa ikiru hodo ni  
nakushiteku sukoshi zutsu  
itsuwari ya uso o matoni  
tachisukumu koe mo naku

Bokutachi wa samayoi nagara  
ikite yuku doko made mo  
furikaeru  
michi wo tozashi  
aruiteku eien ni  
tachisukumu koe mo naku  
ikite yuku eien ni"

(_**Translated**:  
_"_There must still be the soul that you have left behind, hidden somewhere  
__In the deep deep of the forest lying among the trees  
__People who are too tired they just don't look around, any farther  
__They disappear into the eternal darkness of a foreign place_

_Could we still have seen if we were there?  
__Could we have seen it if it were little?_

_Go on with our lives and lose those things behind.  
__Wrapped around in lies, we stand there voiceless.  
__We want to leave our lives, until we find a way.  
__Searching for the light for eternity._

_Things are passing and changing and moving around,  
__But the colors of the sky,  
__Still remain the same, as we used to know,  
__Every single day._

_We are running so free now, ignoring the risk  
__The limits that we had.  
__Leave our fears behind, take another chance.  
__Our souls will live again._

_If we could catch the rhythm of time,  
__We could probably fly so high._

_Go on with our lives, and lose those things behind.  
__Wrapped around in lies, we stand there voiceless.  
__We want to leave our lives, until we find a way.  
__Searching for the light for eternity_

_Go on with our lives, and lose those things behind.  
__Wrapped around in lies, we stand there voiceless.  
__We want to leave our lives, until we find a way.  
__Searching for the light for eternity")_

(AN: I got the lyrics from It's called 'Fukai Mori', and _Inuyasha_ fans would recognize it as the second ending theme. It's a really beautiful song—you've got to hear it.) :)

"Whoa…."

"Wow." The elegant Japanese song they had heard amazed both One and Two.

"I'm suddenly glad we got those foreign language upgrades." Two looked at One, "I don't think many people understood what she sang." True enough, the audience wore confused and bedazzled faces as the host escorted the young woman back to her seat.

One nodded, "Me too, but we really should look for that program. That is, if they're still here." Rogue programs had a sometimes aggravating tendency to slip away when no one notices.

The Twins reexamined the blurred photo. From what they could make out, the program had long, multi-tonal gold and black hair, reaching about mid-back. Two detected movement out of the corner of his eye and looked up to see the singer, 'Miss Annoli', stand up, placing dark shades over her eyes, and leave, steadily moving her left wrist back and forth. Two did a double-take between the picture and the young woman. He poked One again and wordlessly showed him the similarities between the photograph of the program and the singer.

"Looks like we found them. She seems kind of….I don't know….she doesn't give off the same, feeling, or something, that a rebellious program does."

Two raised an eyebrow at his brother's statement, "Well, you know how tricksy a rogue program can be."

The Twins were momentarily distracted from their main objective, focusing now on 'sibling rivalry', "'Tricksy'? I think a certain little brother of mine has been watching _Lord of the Rings_ a few too many times." One wagged his finger mockingly.

"I am _not_ your 'little brother'! How many times do I have to say that?"

"And how many times do_ I_ have to say, you are younger than I am, therefore you are my _little_ brother. Anyway, I'm taller than you are."

"By an inch or two—"

"Or three, but who's counting?"

Two crossed his arms and pouted slightly, mumbling, "Just because it took a few minutes longer for me to download…"

An amused laugh broke the Twins' distraction. Their 'target' was laughing at something someone said to her.

Two's brow furrowed, "I know that laugh……and that smile…"

One was thinking on the same lines as his brother. Disbelieving, he removed his shades, as if something on them somehow put people who weren't there right in front of his silver eyes. The only change to what he saw was that it was brighter in the room.

One gasped, "Lily…."

&&&&&

Ooh...cliffhanger. ;) I hoped you liked it. Again, please leave a review.  
o( 'u' )o Titan


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